The Averted School Shooting
You may not be a podcast listener but I'm about to change your mind and send you running for your headphones.
We recently released an enthralling podcast episode with school vice principal, Heather, who shared how she and others averted a school shooting in Utah. She walks listeners through the quick actions that stopped an 11-year-old shooter. The extensive plot was hatched over months but foiled and the school was saved from disaster.
What's the connection between listening to podcasts and an averted school shooting?
Right after it happened, astonishingly, Heather reached out to me and my co-podcaster, Sarah Ferris, to tell us that she would not have known what to look for or what to do if she had not been such a dedicated listener to the Stop the Killing podcast. The podcast, now in its fourth season, focuses primarily on prevention efforts and what happens when the signs are missed.
Heather detailed the many things she has learned and how she has put ideas into action, reducing her stress at school. A podcast is more than a comment you hear on the news or an item in a social media post. A podcast gives guests and listeners alike the time to digest the more complex issues and solutions to school safety. Heather explained how making school safety a priority saved her school. Her telling of their success is inspiring.
Podcasting is not for the faint at heart. Sarah and I do this because we think this is important, not because someone pays us to do it; lots of volunteer hours! But we'll keep doing it as long as we need to, knowing that we won't always have the validation from the Heathers in our audience.
One more thing. If you thought you heard the podcast, but with a different name, you aren't losing your mind.
When we originally released this podcast episode at the end of November, Molly Hudgens reached out to me concerned about the title of the podcast. She worried readers might confuse our podcast with her book because of the way we titled the episode. Molly joined us in Season 3 to tell her story of bravery as she talked a junior high student into handing over a gun to her. You can listen to her here on Stop the Killing Podcast.
Both are compelling stories of shootings that never happened. We're all on the same team, a mission to end gun violence and keep students and parents safe, both in and out of school.
Because of Molly's concern, Sarah, who does all our engineering for Stop the Killing podcast, repackaged the podcast and we've re-released it under a new title, The Averted School Shooting. I think it's our best one yet. Take a listen.
